Upside-down
by Marie S Zachary
Summary: What happens when the person who is supposed to protect you from danger becomes the source of the danger. Conner Asher and his family are about to find out when his protector becomes his preditor
1. Conner's Essay

_Disclaimer: I don't own Olympus Has Fallen or any of her sister characters_

* * *

It was the anniversary of Ben and Margaret when the phone rang.

"It's Conner's school," Ben said looking at his cell phone, "I need to take this. I'll be right back."

"Of course," Margaret said.

"Hello?"

"Mr. President," Principal Erik said, "I am sorry to be disturbing you on your anniversary but I need you and your wife to come into Conner's school immediately. After reading an assignment he wrote Mrs. Green became concerned and brought it to my attention and I think there may be cause for concern."

Ben found his heart beating a little faster. He took a breath to calm himself.

"Principal Erik nothing in my life is as important as Caroline and Conner. Margaret feels the same way. Please don't feel like you are disturbing us. We will be there as soon as possible."

"Thank you," Principal Erik said, "I should warn you that this is not pretty."

"No," Ben said, "I wouldn't expect it would be."

"Ben," Principal Erik said, "as a friend I want to say I will do my best to make sure that everything is alright."

"Thank you Thomas," Ben said

* * *

It was a five minute ride to Conner's school. Ben didn't know what was to come but he tried to convince himself it couldn't be too bad. Margaret was quiet. He could tell that she was frightened. He had only seen her like this one other time. He took her hand and looked into his eyes trying to reassure her.

"Honey we don't even know what it is," he said gently, "It could be anything from a broken arm to-"

"A broken arm? Ben what does an assignment have to do with a broken arm?"

She took a breath.

"Sorry," she said, "I'm just on edge."

"I know," he replied, "So am I but we need to remain calm."

Ben and Margaret were shown in.

"Please take a seat," Principal Erik said, "Conner's behavior lately and his withdrawal concerned us but we couldn't let this essay go."

"May we see the essay," Ben asked.

"I would prefer reading it to you," Principal Erik said, "I think you need to hear it to understand why I'm concerned... why the school is concerned."

"Please," Ben said.

He took Margaret's hand. Principal Erik read the paper.

A Buddy is supposed to be there for you. He is supposed to be a friend. A buddy is supposed to connect with you and teach you to learn through his experiences. But what happens when the one who is supposed to keep you safe from danger becomes the source of that danger? What happens when your life all of a sudden turns upside-down? When that happens you are tossed into a world of dark silence. I hope that never happens to you. It is the worst feeling ever."

Ben and Margaret looked at each other horrified.

"I am not a filthy freak of nature. I can't tell anyone. He said they would never understand. They would think I'm crazy or making this up but I wouldn't make it up and I'm not crazy."

"When it happens I try to pretend I'm a million miles away but it still is impossible to do. Luke says it gets better. He says he's been through it. I deny that anything's happened. He doesn't even know what I'm going through so how could he know he's been through it. How could he know it gets easier?"

"That explains why he's always in the bath," Margaret whispered.

"Yes and why he's always getting 'sick'," Ben added.

"I am a failure as a son. I am a failure as who I'm supposed to be? I am a freak of nature. I can't let anyone know because I'm not important. I can't bother people who have important things to do with my petty issues."

Principal Erik put down the paper.

"He was writing this in his journal and accidentally handed that in instead of the assignment."

"Thank GOD he did," Ben said.

"THAT BASTARD THAT DID THIS TO HIM IS SO GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT HE DID," Margaret exclaimed angrily.

"Yeah that pretty much is an established fact," Ben said, "This is why certain policies still exist. But Lucien is not my big concern right now. My major concern is Conner. He needs therapy. He needs to be tested to make sure he doesn't have any diseases or anything. We need some sort of plan to help him ease back into a 'normal life'. We definitely need to approach this gently."

"I absolutely agree," Margaret said.

...

Conner was delighted to see that his parents came to pick him up from school.

"Hey mom," he said, "Hey dad."

"Hey buddy," Ben said, "So since Caroline is on her school trip until tomorrow I thought you me and mom would go out for dinner and ice cream. We could even go to the arcade and the amusement park."

"AND," Conner exclaimed delighted, "Normally you say 'or' not and"

"Yes," Ben said, "Well this is a special occasion."

"I'm so in," Conner said

He sounded excited and he was excited but Ben saw the dull look in Conner's eyes.

"I think we should go to the amusement park first," Margaret said.

"Great," Conner exclaimed.  
The amusement park was Conner's favorite hangout spot. He almost never got to go there without a hassle from his parents. They questioned him on everything from when he would be back to- wait, the car was heading back to the house.

"Okay I'm confused," Conner said, "Weren't we going to the amusement park."

"No," Ben said, "The amusement park is coming to us."

"What? How?"

"Your dad turned the backyard into an amusement park," Margaret explained.

"Oh my GOD," Conner exclaimed, "That is awesome."

Ben had called in a favor. It would cost him but he could care less. He saw Conner having a good time and that made it all worth it.

"Well next up is the arcade," Ben said.

"I'll go put on my jacket," Conner replied.

"No need," Ben said, "the arcade is all set up in the oval office."


	2. Confronting the Truth

Margaret looked at her husband in disbelief.

"You set up an arcade in your office," she asked in a whisper.

"Only for the weekend," Ben replied, "It will be removed after the weekend is over."

Conner had already ran ahead.

"But what if the people who set up the arcade got your private information," Margaret whispered.

"I don't even know my private information," Ben said with a chuckle, "It's encoded on my computer with a very personal pass code that I can have access to if I need it. 001001101100110000101 isn't really going to be much use to them."

Ben smiled. As they were eating he gently brought up the topic.

"Con you know we love you right," Ben asked.

"Did I do something wrong," Conner asked tensing up.

"Not at all," Margaret said, "Sweetie your principal read your essay but instead of handing in your essay you accidentally handed in your journal entry about what has been happening to you."  
Conner's face tensed up even more.

"I have to go take a bath," he said.

Ben put his hand on Conner's shoulder.

"Conner," he said, "You should not have been going through this alone. You shouldn't have been going through this at all but definitely not alone."

"How long ago did this start?"

Conner sighed.

"It started last Christmas."  
Conner remembered he wasn't at all alarmed when Lucien came into his bedroom. They got along pretty good. Lucien wasn't that much older then Conner... only about 15 years and they'd developed a friendship (or so it seemed).

"It's all in my journal," Conner said.

"It's alright if you don't feel like you can talk about it right now," Ben said gently, "But Conner your issues are not petty and NOTHING is more important to your mother and I then you and your sister. You are certainly not a failure at all. The fact is you are nothing but a success. I am proud to say you're mine."

"How long ago did this start?"

Conner sighed.

"It started last Christmas."  
Conner remembered he wasn't at all alarmed when Lucien came into his bedroom. They got along pretty good. Lucien wasn't that much older then Conner... only about 15 years and they'd developed a friendship (or so it seemed).

"It's all in my journal," Conner said.

"It's alright if you don't feel like you can talk about it right now," Ben said gently, "But Conner your issues are not petty and NOTHING is more important to your mother and I then you and your sister. You are certainly not a failure at all. The fact is you are nothing but a success. I am proud to say you're mine."

"I don't like stomachaches," Conner admitted.

"I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who did," Ben replied.

"What's going to happen to me," Conner asked.

"Well first we're going to take you to the doctor to make sure you're not sick with any infections," Ben said.

"I don't feel sick," Conner said.

"Yes but we need to make sure you're not sick."

"What if I am," Conner asked.

"If you are then we'll make sure you get better," Ben said.


End file.
